Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in 2004 that allows writers to format text using simple, intuitive plain-text syntax that remains highly readable even in its raw, unformatted state. Unlike HTML or other markup languages that use verbose tags and angle brackets, Markdown uses natural symbols and conventions—asterisks or underscores for emphasis, hashes for headings, dashes or asterisks for lists, and square brackets with parentheses for links. This human-friendly approach makes it possible to write formatted documents in any text editor without needing specialized software, while the resulting text remains clean and easy to read whether it’s being edited, displayed raw, or converted to HTML. Markdown’s philosophy centers on readability and simplicity: the formatting syntax is designed to look like what it means, so bold text visually suggests bold formatting, and # Heading clearly indicates a heading level.

Beyond simple text formatting, Markdown has become the standard format for documentation, README files, technical writing, blogging platforms, note-taking applications, and collaborative writing tools. Platforms like GitHub, Stack Overflow, Reddit, Discord, and Slack have adopted Markdown (or Markdown-inspired syntax) for user-generated content, making it essential knowledge for developers and technical writers. Markdown files can be easily converted to HTML, PDF, Word documents, presentations, and other formats using tools like Pandoc, while static site generators like Jekyll, Hugo, and MkDocs build entire websites from Markdown source files. Various flavors and extensions of Markdown have emerged—including GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), CommonMark, and MultiMarkdown—that add features like tables, task lists, footnotes, syntax highlighting for code blocks, and strikethrough text. This extensibility, combined with Markdown’s simplicity and the fact that it’s plain text (making it version-control friendly, searchable, and future-proof), has made it the de facto standard for technical documentation and web content creation in the modern software development ecosystem.

Tags: Text, Formatting

Properties: Lightweight Markup Language, Plain Text Format, Human-Readable, Easy to Write, Easy to Read, Simple Syntax, Intuitive Formatting, Text Editor Compatible, No Special Software Required, Readability-Focused, Natural Symbols, Minimal Markup, Clean Appearance, Raw Text Readable, HTML Convertible, Format Agnostic, Multi-Format Export, Pandoc Compatible, Static Site Generation, Documentation Standard, README Files, Technical Writing, Blogging Platform Support, Note-Taking Format, Collaborative Writing, Version Control Friendly, Git Compatible, Diff-Friendly, Merge-Friendly, Searchable, Grep Compatible, Future-Proof, Platform-Independent, Cross-Platform, Language-Agnostic, File Extension .md, File Extension .markdown, MIME Type text/markdown, UTF-8 Encoding, ASCII Compatible, Heading Syntax, Hash Headings, Multiple Heading Levels, Emphasis Support, Bold Text, Italic Text, Strikethrough, Asterisk Formatting, Underscore Formatting, List Support, Ordered Lists, Unordered Lists, Nested Lists, Bullet Points, Numbered Items, Link Syntax, Inline Links, Reference Links, URL Auto-Detection, Image Embedding, Alt Text Support, Code Formatting, Inline Code, Code Blocks, Fenced Code Blocks, Syntax Highlighting, Language Specification, Backtick Syntax, Triple Backticks, Blockquotes, Nested Blockquotes, Horizontal Rules, Line Breaks, Paragraph Separation, Whitespace Handling, Escape Characters, Backslash Escaping, Special Character Support, HTML Embedding, Raw HTML Support, Inline HTML, Block-Level HTML, Table Support, Pipe Tables, Grid Tables, Task Lists, Checkbox Support, Footnotes, Definition Lists, Abbreviations, Superscript, Subscript, Emoji Support, Auto-Linking, Email Links, Reference-Style Links, Image References, Anchor Links, ID Attributes, Class Attributes, Metadata Support, Front Matter, YAML Headers, Title Blocks, Author Information, Date Stamps, GitHub Flavored Markdown, CommonMark Specification, MultiMarkdown, Markdown Extra, R Markdown, Pandoc Markdown, Kramdown, Redcarpet, Showdown, Marked, Remarkable, Markdown-it, Parser Libraries, Renderer Support, Preview Tools, Live Preview, Split View Editing, WYSIWYG Editors, Syntax Highlighting Editors, VS Code Support, Atom Support, Sublime Text Support, Vim Support, Emacs Support, Web Editors, Browser-Based, Dillinger, StackEdit, HackMD, Typora, Obsidian, Notion Support, Bear Notes, Joplin, Simplenote, GitHub Support, GitLab Support, Bitbucket Support, Stack Overflow Support, Reddit Support, Discord Support, Slack Support, Jupyter Notebooks, R Studio, Documentation Generators, MkDocs, Docusaurus, VuePress, GitBook, Read the Docs, Sphinx Markdown, Jekyll Support, Hugo Support, Gatsby Support, Hexo Support, Blog Platforms, WordPress Markdown, Medium Support, Dev.to, Hashnode, Ghost CMS, Static Sites, Portfolio Sites, Personal Websites, Project Documentation, API Documentation, User Manuals, Tutorials, Guides, Books, Academic Papers, Presentations, Slideshows, Reveal.js, Remark, PDF Generation, LaTeX Support, Math Equations, MathJax, KaTeX, Diagrams, Mermaid Support, PlantUML, Graphviz, Flowcharts, Sequence Diagrams, Charts, Graphs, Academic Citations, Bibliography Support, BibTeX, Citation Keys, Cross-References, Table of Contents, Auto-Generated TOC, Navigation, Internal Links, Section Links, Keyboard Shortcuts, Productivity Tools, Writing Focus, Distraction-Free, Minimal Interface, Template Support, Boilerplate, Snippets, Macros, Variables, Include Files, Transclusion, Plugin System, Extensions, Custom Renderers, Hooks, Filters, Preprocessing, Postprocessing, Linting, Validation, Style Guides, Best Practices, Accessibility, Screen Reader Friendly, Semantic HTML Output, Mobile Friendly, Responsive, Print Stylesheets, Export Options, Word Export, DOCX Conversion, ePub Generation, Mobi Format, Slide Decks, HTML Slides, PDF Slides, PowerPoint Export, Open Source, Free Software, Community-Driven, Wide Adoption, Industry Standard, Developer Documentation, Software README, Change Logs, Release Notes, Contributing Guidelines, Code of Conduct, License Files, Issue Templates, Pull Request Templates, Wiki Pages, Knowledge Bases, Internal Documentation, Team Collaboration, Remote Work, Asynchronous Communication, Changelog Generation, Version Documentation, Migration Guides, Onboarding Docs, Training Materials, Educational Content, Course Materials, Learning Resources, Cheat Sheets, Quick References

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown